Henderson City Commission to meet Monday

HENDERSON COUNTY, Ky. - The Henderson City Commission has moved its next meeting to Monday evening, at which time it will consider a revision to the city's property maintenance code.

The meeting was rescheduled to Monday because the Kentucky League of Cities is convening this week, and Mayor Steve Austin must attend.

The proposed changes to the property maintenance code stem from an observation made by the city Codes Division that when the city adopted the International Property Maintenance Code in February 2001 the portion of the ordinance that enacted that change, failed to properly reference the penalties. That meant that the county attorney's office could not allow the city Codes Division to bring criminal charges against violators.

The proposed change will separate civil penalties from criminal penalties in enforcing the city's property maintenance regulations, but does not increase them. In fact, the proposed maximum criminal penalties represent a decrease by $500 a day.

Civil penalties will be a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $1,000. Criminal penalties will be a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of at least $10 and not more than $500.

Each day that a violation continues after the city has served notice constitutes a separate violation.

The city commission meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the top-floor meeting room of the Henderson Municipal Center. Other items on the relatively brief agenda include:

Interfund loan: The commission will consider taking $222,000 from the General Fund and loaning it to the Sanitation Fund for four years at no interest. The money would pay for the lease/purchase of a track loader from Whayne Supply Co. of Evansville, which was approved at the Sept. 11 meeting. The loan will allow the city to avoid paying more than $14,000 in taxes on the transaction.

Recycling agreement: The commission will consider an updated version of the interlocal agreement setting up the Tri-County Recycling Alliance, which had to be revised after McLean County dropped out. The state Department of Local Government requested the minor changes made to the document, which has already been approved by Henderson Fiscal Court.